1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer systems generally and, more specifically, the present invention relates to the environment inside a computer system enclosure.
2. Background Information
When the personal computer (PC) architecture was originally designed in the early 1980s, the internal electronic components used operated at substantially slower clock speeds and consumed substantially less power. Since then, the electronic components have continuously become more advanced resulting in tremendously smaller, faster and more powerful computer systems. Thus, the electronic components used in present day PCs consume much more power and operate at much greater clock speeds. Correspondingly, present day electronic components generate much more heat and emit much more electromagnetic interference (EMI) than their earlier counterparts.
Notwithstanding the technology leaps made in the electronic components of PCs, the design of the architecture established in the early 1980s has changed very little, if at all. That is, the PC box used to enclose advanced present day electronic components is basically of the same design as the PC box originally designed in the early 1980s. When the PC engineers originally designed the PC box, they did not need to consider the power and thermal requirements of present day electronic components. In addition, the PC engineers also did not need to consider the consequences of the EMI emitted by present day high frequency electronic components.
With PC technology constantly advancing, the environment inside the PC box is continuously becoming much more hostile for electronic components due to the increasing amounts of EMI and temperature. Consequences of the hostile environment inside the PC box include decreased reliability, increased costs and limits on clock speeds and power consumption.
A managed sub-environment for a computer system is disclosed. In one embodiment, the managed sub-environment includes an electromagnetic interference (EMI) and thermal enclosure. An enclosure connector is disposed on the enclosure and is adapted to be engaged with a backplane connector of a computer system backplane. A computer system device is enclosed by the enclosure and is coupled to the enclosure connector such that the computer system device is adapted to be coupled to the computer system backplane. The enclosure is to isolate an EMI environment of the computer system device from EMI outside the enclosure. Additional features and benefits of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description, figures and claims set forth below.